STANFORD, Calif. -- Stanford junior Grant Fisher was named NCAA Division I Men's Cross Country National Athlete of the Week by the USTFCCCA after his victory at Pac-12 Championships on Friday helped lift the Cardinal to its first team title in seven years.
Fisher ran 23:44.9 over the 8-kilometer (4.97-mile) course at Springfield (Ore.) Golf Club to beat runner-up Joe Klecker of Colorado by three seconds. Fisher gave Stanford its eighth individual conference victory and was the seventh different Cardinal to win. Other previous champions all came in the Pac-10. They were:Marc Olesen (1985), Jonathon Riley (2000), Grant Robison (2001, 2002), Ian Dobson (2003), Chris Derrick (2009), and Elliott Heath (2010).
Fisher kicked past Klecker with 200 meters to go and won going away. He led a rush of seven Stanford placers among the top 21, including three among the top four. It was Fisher's second Pac-12 title, following his 1,500-meter crown on the track last spring. Stanford has won 13 men's conference crowns.
He enters NCAA competition among the favorites to take the national crown. Fisher and Stanford next race at the NCAA West Regional in Seattle on Nov. 10. The top two teams advance automatically to the NCAA Championships in Louisville on Nov. 18.
